The Idea
by QuickWren
Summary: It's summer vacation, and the Fenton family's on a road trip.  A really long, boring road trip... until...  "Realization dawned on her face. Her body froze, a look of horror plastered permanently to her features."  Revelation fic!  One-shot!  RxR!


_**So... here's another one-shot I wrote [; I feel like my story is a different take on the thoughts behind the whole "revelation fic", but that it's also still oozing with enough sappy goo to satisfy. But yeah. Here's my second fic. YAY! When you're done, there are a few questions at the bottom that I'd really appreciate if you could answer in a review for me. Thanks, dear loved ones!**__**  
><strong>_  
>The blistering summer sun beat down on the barren desert landscape. It was only intensified by the reflective metal sidings on the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. The heat was devastating, nearly unbearable to anyone unfortunate enough to be trapped in it; anyone like the Fenton family. They were all roasting in their metal mobile cage, even though they all wore an assortment of tank-tops and short shorts. (It had been an unfortunate decision on the part of the rather large paternal figure.) That was, all of them except the youngest and only son, Daniel. He looked positively chilled and relaxed in his baggy jeans and t-shirt.<p>

His older sister Jasmine glared at him enviously as she fanned herself with her hand. "How can you stand wearing long freaking pants in weather like this?" she growled while motioning her free arm up towards the roof of the RV.

Danny studied his sister's sweaty forehead and flushed cheeks with a smirk. He glanced cautiously up towards his parents, who were in a heated debate -no pun intended- about the correct rotation calibration for a seven inch axel in an ectoplasmic weapon if the weapon was meant only to stun, not destroy. Needless to say, they weren't paying him any attention.

So Danny answered, "I'm a walking ice box these days. Heat barely bothers me anymore." He paused briefly to think before adding humorously, "In fact, neither does the cold."

Jazz rolled her eyes and turned angrily away from her brother. Not. Fair. There had to be something she could do to cool down too. Seeking any sort of relief she could find, she pressed her cheek against the normally cool RV window. And then pulled back. She rubbed her now slightly-burned cheek; the window'd been scorching.

It was now Danny's turn to roll his eyes. For a genius, his sister sure did some dumb things. "Here," he sighed, and surrounded his hand in a pale blue light. He glanced towards his parents again, and once he was sure the coast was clear, he pressed the icy energy to her face.

"Thanks," his sister said with a smile when he pulled away. The boy shrugged awkwardly and faced out his window once again.

"Why don't you just do that to the whole RV?" Jazz asked suddenly, sounding hopeful.

"Well, first off," Danny replied absent-mindedly, "Mom and Dad would notice, and its not exactly an easy thing to explain. Plus, it'd drain too much energy to do without changing." Jazz nodded, her expression dejected but understanding.

Instead of keeping up the conversation, she turned to look out the window, careful not to touch it again. The talking between the two teens lulled, and they were left to try to find entertainment in either their parents' debate (which wasn't entertaining at all) or in the scenery that went flying by (which was pretty much just sand, surrounded by sand, piled on top of more sand).

Reasonably, the two teens became very bored, very fast.

After bouncing around wordlessly in the rattling old RV for perhaps fifteen minutes, Danny was gifted with an amusing thought. Leaning over to his sister, he whispered, "I've got an idea. Wanna see if it works?"

With a shrug, Jazz agreed. She'd do anything to starve off the insatiable boredom.

But this was not what she'd been expecting.

Danny once again glanced up towards his inattentive parents, and after confirming that they were still ever so occupied, he began.

His eyes glowed a deep, glistening green, and a "Boo," resounded eerily through-out the inside of Jazz's mind. It was a perfect replica of her brother's voice, although his lips had not moved and he had not spoken.

Shocked, Jazz had to work to keep a shriek from escaping her lips. She was mostly successful; instead of an ear-shattering scream, all she produced was a rather large, hiccuping, "Eep!"

It was enough, though. Jack Fenton twisted around in the passenger seat, some sort of blaster already up and prepared to fire. "What is it, Jazz? A spook? Where's he at? I'll get him!"

She had to end this, before it got out of hand. Jazz, her eyes wide, her expression dazed, managed a weary chuckle. "No Dad, it's nothing. Don't worry." The large man looked confused, but it was clear that he wanted to get back to his debate. He turned back around and quickly submerged himself in his talk once again.

Once she was sure it was safe to speak, Jazz leaned over to her little brother. "What was that?" Her voice shook slightly, and although she wasn't afraid, she was still uneasy.

"I did it with my mind. How cool is that?"

The expression on Jazz's face darkened; apparently she didn't find it cool at all. "You can talk with your mind?" she questioned in an undertone. "You mean, telepathy? How long have you been able to do that?" She sounded upset; not angry, but definitely not pleased. Geez, what was her problem? He wasn't hurting anyone.

Just to mess with her, Danny decided to answer with his new power. His next response echoed inside her head. "As Phantom, for about a month," Danny transmitted to his sister. "In my human half, only a few days. I'm still working out the kinks though. Even as Phantom, it's still got some flaws."

A pensive look crossed over Jazz's face, as if something was troubling her. The RV bounced silently, the rattling of the tires and the luggage in back the soundtrack to her thoughts. Finally, she glanced worriedly at her brother and whispered, "Can you read other people's thoughts?"

So that's what'd been bothering her. She'd been worried that he would intrude on her privacy. As if he'd even want to. "No, I don't think I can," he replied telepathically. "And I wouldn't if I could. You're always crawling around in my head, psychoanalyzing me." The teen rolled his eyes in mock distress. "I wouldn't dream of doing something that annoying to anyone else." In all honesty, Danny knew what it felt like to have a secret, and he understood better than anyone their importance. He wouldn't stoop so low as to dig through someone else's mental closet, even if he could.

The look of relief in Jazz's eyes was evident, but suddenly it changed. Realization dawned on her face. Her body froze, a look of horror plastered permanently to her features. Danny's breathing hitched, and although he wasn't sure why Jazz was so anxious, it made him anxious. He held his breath. Slowly, his sister unfroze, unclenching her tight fists. The only sound heard was Jazz's rapid breathing. The entire rest of the RV was silent.

No one was speaking.

"Mom? Dad?" Jazz called out softly to the front seat, stress etched into her face. "What's wrong?"

Maddie's gaze remained firmly glued to the road, her eyes dull and glassy and unwavering. Jack, however, twisted back around to see his children. In his face was his daughter's anxiety, mirrored and multiplied. He didn't answer her, only holding her gaze for a moment, before turning to Danny. "What was that?" he asked the boy shakily.

Danny's mouth opened, then closed again quickly. He swallowed hard and force a strained laugh. "What was what?"

"I heard a 'boo,' and then Jazz screamed, so I thought there was a ghost. But Jazz said not to worry, so I didn't," His voice sounded innocent and lost, like that of a betrayed child. "But then I heard all these other words... They sounded like you. What were those words? What's going on?"

"Words..." Danny sputtered out. "You keep talking about these words. I don't..." His voice trailed off as his mother shakily pulled over to the side of the road. Her vision was blurring with tears. God, why was she crying? She didn't have anything to cry about. Jack would figure it out; he may be a bit dense, and sometimes he was a tad slow, but he always figured it out when she couldn't. Oh God, why couldn't she stop crying? She didn't need to cry. Everything was alright. Everything was okay.

Maddie's thoughts were near hysteria, though it only showed on her emotionless face in the tears that slipped from her eyes. Her daughter, however, did not have that talent. Her frantic emotions were scarcely contained, and she was shaking so hard that Danny was beginning to worry that he'd need to hold her down. Just when he was about to reach over and grab her, he watched as, once again, her expression began to change.

"Okay, Danny, you can stop now. I've got all the data I need," she said as smoothly as she could. Danny glanced towards her in wonder, but the glint in her eyes explained all he needed to know at the moment; it clearly read, "Mess this up, and I will kill you."

So Danny shrugged and plaster a false calm onto his face. He didn't know the plan, but he was more than willing to play along. "Whatever you say, Sis."

Jazz chuckled gratefully. Although she wasn't a good liar, Danny was. If she couldn't pull this off, he could.

"Data?" their father asked, right on cue.

Jazz nodded. "Yeah. I asked Danny to do me a favor. I found out recently that he can throw his voice, and make himself sound like a ghost." She had no idea where she was going with. But she was sure as hell gonna get there. "So, I... uh... I wanted to see what you guys would do."

Danny, catching on quick, rushed to his floundering sister's aid. "She wanted to test which was stronger; your ghost hunting instinct or your parenting instinct."

"You passed the test!" Jazz cried in excited relief. "You didn't shoot Danny, so you passed the test!"

Jack wasn't content with this, but began to turn back around. He was lost and confused and troubled and man did he need some fudge. At least he knew he could figure it out later. There wasn't a problem in the world that Jack Fenton and fudge couldn't solve.

Maddie, however, was not so easily sold. She turned herself around and faced her children, occupying the gap between the two front seats that her husband had just left vacant. The tears had smudged her make-up just enough to make it noticeable, just enough to make Danny flinch. The tears themselves, however, had stopped. Thank God. Danny couldn't stand the thought of his mom crying because of him.

"Danny, dear, how did you do that with your voice? Could you show me?"

Danny resisted the urge to flinch again and instead grinned cheekily. "Sure thing." Gahhhh, how was he supposed to do that? His eyes freaking glowed when he used this power!

Eyes squeezed tightly shut, Danny activated his telepathy power, hoping the light wouldn't show. Then, he simply moved his lips, like he was speaking, as he transmitted his voice. "Luke," he echoed inside his family's minds, "I am your father."

Jack laughed heartily from the front seat, no longer worried, and even Maddie was smiling lightly. As she flipped back around and started the RV, Jazz released a quiet breath of tension. Her and Danny shared a startled look and silently mouthed simultaneously, "Never again!" before breaking into a fit of relieved laughter.

And the family continued their trip without a care.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Later that night, the Fentons had pulled into a campsite and settled down to sleep. The moon glimmered in the sky over head, and Jazz watched as a puff of her chilled breathe floated off into the sky, covering the stars just briefly before it dissipated. The roof of the RV was cold against her legs, but the sky was so clear and bright that she couldn't bring herself to crawl back into the cramped vehicle. Surprisingly, the hot desert morning had cooled, leaving the night air crisp- just barely under the freezing point.

Jazz leaned back and began to count the stars, unwinding after her stressful day. She closed her eyes lightly and felt a soft breeze pull across her hair. She hummed quietly to herself, content and at peace.

"Jazz, sweetheart?" came an inquisitive voice.

The teen jumped, startled out of her tune, and her eyes snapped open. "Yeah Mom?" came her breathy reply.

The older women climbed up to the top of the RV with ease, despite her age. Not that this was of any surprise to Jazz; she'd seen her mother in action. Although she'd never admit it to her mom, ghost fighting had its benefits.

Maddie placed herself gently next to her daughter and released a weary sigh. Today had been hard. But with what she had in mind, tonight would be harder.

"Jasmine, I need to talk to you." Jazz tensed at her words, but let her continue. "Just so you know, your father knows nothing of this. I didn't tell him, and I don't plan to. He believed your story earlier. Sometimes, he's a little too... naive. But, he's happy." Maddie flashed her daughter a wry smile. "And his happiness is what's most important."

Jazz grinned in returned, but didn't let her guard down. "Okay. And?"

"And, we need to talk," Maddie repeated.

"About?"

"Danny." Jazz flinched. Of course. Her mother wasn't the sort to let something like this go, especially if it involved her children and ghosts and danger, all combined into one.

"What about him?"

"He's Phantom, isn't he?" Jazz gawked at her mother. Which meant 'yes'. Jazz had never been a good liar; she just couldn't keep her emotions off her face.

"Whaaaaat...?" the teen breathed worriedly, not confirming the statement, but not denying it either. "Why would you think that?"

Maddie shot her daughter an incredulous look. "It only makes sense, dear. Think about it," Maddie rolled her eyes upward, towards the sky, as a pensive expression crossed her face. "He said something along the lines of 'Even as Phantom, it still has kinks," and that he wouldn't 'crawl around in someone's thoughts', didn't he? He's Phantom, and he's working on telepathy, right?" The look of fear and uncertainty was all the confirmation Maddie needed, but she still waited for a verbal answer. When it became obvious that she wasn't going to receive one, she continued speaking. "Plus, even though his eyes were closed, I'm pretty sure I saw them glowing. Well, now that I think about it, I can't believe I didn't think of it before. The missed curfews, the injuries, skipping class, his strange new knowledge about ghosts: they all make sense if he's Phantom. What I don't understand is the 'human half' part. He mentioned a human half, right?"

Jazz nodded a weak confirmation. When Maddie remained silent, she found her tongue and forced herself to speak. "Yeah," she muttered quietly. "He's what the other ghosts call a halfa- half human, half ghost. He can switch between the two sides."

Maddie nodded thoughtfully. Her expression was strong and understanding, but Jazz could see the tears leaking onto her cheeks. "Mom?" she asked timidly. "Are you alright?"

Maddie nodded furiously and wiped her face dry. "Yes dear, I'm okay. I'm sorry for crying." She chuckled humorlessly. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry about this anymore," she said dryly. "After seeing the look of shock and self-hate on Danny's face today, when he'd seen I'd been crying, I promised myself I would stop. But, the thought of me, shooting at my own son, at my baby..." Her voice trailed of weakly, and Jazz felt herself slip into therapy mode.

"It's alright, Mom. You didn't know. And you never hurt him. He's not mad, and believe it or not, he's really, really good with his powers." She thought about this for a moment, before rephrasing. "Okay, so maybe he's not so great with the telepathy, but he can definitely take care of himself. He's been doing it for ages now." She wanted to say more, to tell her mother that everything would be okay, but she didn't know how; she didn't want to give away any more of Danny's secrets, plus it wasn't as if telling a mother her child was a half-ghost was the sort of thing any professional would be prepared for. So, her words became choked, and she stuttered again. "And, he's been... he's... well, he's-"

"He's right behind you." Danny to the rescue. Again. Jazz turned around slowly, a chagrinned smile on her face. Danny waved his hand, casting his sister's apologetic embarrassment away. "It's alright Jazz. I heard everything, and I understand. I'd have done the same in your situation."

Maddie just gaped up at her son in awe. His white hair glistened like the moon in the starry light, and behind his florescent green eyes glowed security and strength. Phantom touched down on the roof of the RV soundlessly, dropping from the sky above them.

Danny glanced down at his boots awkwardly, his previous confidence seeping away. "So..." the boy chucked nervously. "What do you want to know?"

Maddie stood slowly and faced her son, though he refused to look up. He felt her warm arms around him suddenly, hugging him tight. "Everything," she coughed out emotionally.

"You're not mad?"

Maddie thought about it for a moment, and, after releasing her son, replied," Oh, I'm mad. I am very mad. But I think I'm more proud." Tears started down her cheeks again, and worry flashed over her son's face. But before he could say anything, Maddie continued. "Oh yes, very proud. And confused, and worried. Plus there's the shock and pride and fear. But mostly, there's love. Lots of love."

Teary eyes gazed at her son, at her baby boy. "I love you, Danny. No matter what, I will always love you. Never forget that."

"I love you too, Mom. I love you too."

_**Okay, so here are the questions I have, that I'd really love if you could just answer for me. It would mean a lot to me, and it'll only make my stories better in the future. Just 6 little questions, and the return is my eternal love haha [;**__****_

_**1) Did the writing style seem too formal? (I was a little worried about writing so formally for a fiction based off of a cartoon, but I also really enjoy writing like this. hehe)**__****_

_**2) Was everyone in character? (Focus on Jazz, if you could. I felt like she was the farthest off. If there are others that were bad, though, please do point them out).**__****_

_**3) Did things move too quickly, without enough explanation? Or was it the opposite, with too many details and not enough speed?**__****_

_**4) On a scale of 1 to 10, how similar was this to other fics you've read (1 being least similar, 10 being most similar). Do you like it at this level, or would you like it to be more different/alike?**__****_

_**5) Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? Ect... Seriously, find the smallest mistake you can. The more you find, the more internet points you win.**__****_

_**6) Any ideas for another story you'd like written but don't want to write yourself? (I'm always looking for inspiration.)**__****_

_**Any additional thoughts are appreciated and enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and special thanks to those of you who fill out the questionnaire above! 3**_


End file.
